Year of Change
by HanaxSpana
Summary: This story follows Lily Evans from her Tenth birthday in the year leading up to her first day at Hogwarts and the damage done that couldn't be reversed. Currently in hiatus
1. Happy 10th Birthday!

I was happily snuggled up in my bed on the 30th January. I had my snug pyjamas on and it felt as though I would never be able to get up. It was a perfect morning and I could hear the birds twittering outside as a warm glow shone through my floating curtains. Nothing could have ruined that perfect moment, until I heard Tuny ) banging on my door excitedly.

"LILY! LILY! COME ON YOU'VE GOT TO OPEN YOUR PRESENTS!" She yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

Of course, it was my tenth birthday today, double digits! I leapt out of my cosy bed, slipped my feet into my pink fluffy slippers, threw on my pink polka dot dressing gown and raced down the stairs – narrowly missing my pet cat Fluffy (I know, such a cheesy un-original name – but I was seven when I named her!). In the kitchen Ma had neatly layed out carefully wrapped presents on the table, and in front of my chair was my absolute favourite birthday breakfast (honey spread on toast with a candle stuck in it, and hot chocolate with marshmallows). Ma and Pa had got me a teddy called fudge, an etch a sketch, a slinky, a beautiful doll with gorgeous blonde hair, and a set of clothes for the doll. My Aunt Edith got me a pad of paper and pencil crayons, Uncle Mike got me a slab of chocolate, and Granny bought my a dolls house with dolls the size of my thumb.

After Breakfast I quickly changed, then me and Tuny went down to the pond and sat in our favourite place by the willow tree and shared my chocolate between us. Half way into our conversation about what Tuny should do with her hair, Severus, the mysterious boy from down the street, came and sat down by a tree, clearly closely watching us.

"I wish that weirdo would stop watching us, it's freaking me out!" Tuny gave Severus evils, but he just rolled his eyes and read his book.

"Anyway, I was thinking about threading some daisies into it to match my floral print dress,"Tuny sat picking the petals of a daisy.

"No Tuny! You shouldn't pick the petals off daisies, it spoils it!" Then, suddenly all the petals reappeared on the daisy. Severus, who had started studying us again wore a look of triumph on his face, and bounded over.

"I knew it, Lily, I knew it, you're just like me!" Severus announced with a grin.

"How dare you say lily is anything like you, she's not anything like you" But Severus wouldn't listen.

"The proof is staring at you in the face, did you not just see what Lily made happen" Severus

"Made happen? you've really lost the plot, she's ten, of course it wasn't her!"

"Why do muggles never understand?" Severus sighed under his breath.

"What did you call me?" Petunia looked as if she would rip his head off any second now.

"Muggles, non magical people. Of course, Lily isn't a muggle as you just saw, she's a wizard like all my family, bu..."

"I should of known your entire family where nut cases as well? What next? Do the elves come and wait on you, and giants roam the mountains?" Petunia laughed at the joke she had made.

"Well actually..."

"Oh, well that's lucky for you then isn't it Severus?" Petunia laughed sarcastically "Sorry – me and Lils have got to go, or else we'll miss the leprechauns before they run off with all the gold, bye!" Petunia started dragging me away – but a finally found my voice.

"What do you mean I'm not a muggle?"

"Lils, he's talking nonsense – come on!" Petunia clearly wasn't going to let me stay any longer.

"It means you're a wizard, haven't you done things that no-one else has seen that you can't explain?" I wasn't going to say it in front of Tuny, but I had! Like that once when I made all the vegetables disappear off my plate, or when a cool breeze appeared out of nowhere in my art class when it was boiling hot, but no windows or doors where open.

"Pah! A wizard! You're not right in the head Severus – come on Lils lets get out of here" But I wanted to learn more.

"Say I was a wizard, what would happen now?"

"Well, us wizards go to a special school called Hogwarts where we learn about magic, then we go off into the wizard world and get a job, I want to be a potions master when I grow up,"

"A loud of rubbish, that's what that is, now come ON Lils, we've got to get back for lunch!"

"Tuny, I, I think he's right" I stuttered.

"Lily, he's lying, it's all a con to try and get some friends!" Tuny glared at Severus.

"It is not! Look, Lily, take this closed flower and really concentrate on it opening." Severus passed me the flower and I took it in the palms of my hands and clearly imagined a flower opening in my head. There was a gasp from behind me.

"Severus, I never thought you'd sink as low as to give us a fake flower! Lily, either come with me and we'll carry on as normal, or you stay here and I never talk to you again!" I glanced longingly at Severus, but decided I'd rather keep my sister, so I grabbed her hand and we ran back up to our house for lunch.

Ma was engrossed in making lunch, so she didn't even hear us come in; and Pa was out at work

All through lunch the only thing I could think about was wizards and magic, and about a million questions that needed to be answered, like, could I really be a wizard? Or how will they know where I am to invite me to this Hogwarts? Will Tuny think I'm a freak like Severus if I am?

My thoughts where distracted by the mental preparations for Aunt Pat's arrival for my birthday tea tonight. Ma was especially worried, frantically dusting everything ten times and re-arranging the fruit bowl. This is because Aunt Pat is Pa's sister, and she is constantly judging Ma on how well she's doing. It was disastrous last time because the table mysteriously collapsed after Aunt Pat made a comment on how I need to try harder at school. In fact – was that me that did it? I did seem to be a wizard, anything could have been possible – even something stupid like a bank run by Goblins. I laughed at the thought of all those tiny creatures attempting to protect thousands of pounds, like that was ever going to happen!

At six Auntie Pat turned up on the door step holding a big silver present in her arms (which turned out to be an emerald green knitted jumper which I politely thanked her for, but later put at the back of my wardrobe along with a frilly bright pink skirt, and the home made teddy which looked more like a monster and gave me nightmares for months after). I was told by ma to be on my best behaviour, or else there would be no birthday cake.

"So Lily, ten years old, your getting so old!" I had heard this off aunt Pat every year since I was six, and it was getting pretty tiresome, but I smiled and kept thinking about the delicious birthday cake.

"Yes Auntie Pat – I am aren't I"," I think I hid my hint of sarcasm pretty well there, but a got a funny look off Tuny.

"Pass us the gravy will you Maggers?" Maggy was Ma's name, but aunt Pat called her Maggers. Ma said it was childish and stupid of her to keep calling her that.

"Yes of course Patricia," Ma uttered through clenched teeth. The whole night was very awkward after that. Almost as awkward ass the time that me and Tuny had heard Ma and Pa yelling about something silly we'd done, and then had to pretend like we hadn't heard a thing when we went in for our toast.

It was all worth it in the end when me and Tuny settled down in our spot in front of the fire eating delicious sponge cake with butter icing later that night giggling at Aunt Pat's giant underwear on the radiator.

"So, Tuny, I don't suppose you think Severus was right about me being a wizard, do you?" I had to see what Tuny thought about Wizards.

"Oh, don't listen Lils, it's a load of rubbish, he's just winding you up. You know he's a freak, stop going on about it" Tuny sighed and took a massive bite out of her cake.

"I know, but, you must have seen the petals appear on that daisy, and when I turned my normal ice-cream into a double last summer, I think he's right" Tuny spluttered on her cake.

"Lils, I told you not to mention that, and the man must have given you the wrong one, plus if your a wizard, why aren't I? That wouldn't be fair would it? Now eat your cake and be quiet." I wasn't going to leave it there though.

"But..."

"No buts, now I'm going to sleep – I've had enough of this nonsense."

I Sighed, finished off my cake, and followed Tuny upstairs, I was beat.

Before I went to bed I cleaned my teeth, washed my face with a flannel, and changed into my bunny pyjamas. When I had got into bed and curled up into a ball I thought about how strange this 10th birthday had been.


	2. You're a wizard Lily

**You're a wizard Lily:**

****Authors note:****

****Special thanks to Cassia4u my first review :-) This next chapters all about Lily finding out about wizards. It's so hard not calling Severus 'Snape', I've had to delete Snape about a million times, and I'm sure I'm going to call him Snape at some point in this story. Hope you enjoy my next chapter, cya.****

The next morning I knew what I had to do to clear my confusion. I acted completely normal for the first half of the day, but as soon as Petunia was in her room doing boring homework I slipped into my shoes, and ran outside to find Severus.

The first place I had to look was down by the river (this was because he always had his head in a book down there), and – no surprises – he was down there by the bank reading some old tattered book. I didn't want to disturb him as he looked so peaceful, but I decided I couldn't have this wizard thing playing on my mind for much longer.

He jumped so suddenly when I tapped him on the shoulder I almost fell back into the reeds.

"Oh, hi Lily." He muttered awkwardly.

"Hey Severus, I wanted to apologies for my silly sister, she doesn't seem to like you very much." I realised that was probably one of the most obvious things I could have said.

"Really? I didn't notice!" He smirked. "What did you want, anyway?"

"I just wanted to know what you meant by that whole wizard thingy"

"Oh come on, I thought you weren't as stupid as your sister, now you can't see you have abnormal powers?" I didn't want him thinking I was stupid.

"No, I know exactly what you mean, but, how can I be a wizard? None of my family are"

"You're just a muggle born, there are loads of wizards like you," Something flickered in his face when he said muggle born, it worried me.

"Is being muggle born bad?"

"N no, of course not!" I blew out a sigh of relief.

"So, do I get a magic wand like you do in books?" I had always wanted a magic wand growing up, me and Tuny always played fairies and went round turning people into frogs. Then it hit me. What would Tuny think of me if she found out? She would hate me for even talking to Severus again!

"All wizards get a wand just before they go to Hogwarts, you have to by them from Olivander's wand shop in Diagon Alley."

"Amazing! So how will they know where to send my letter to invite me to Hogwarts?"

"Well, young wizards have a trace, it detects where you are and what spells you do – see when your under eighteen you're not aloud to use magic out of school."

"Oh that's so unfair! I couldn't wait to show Tuny all the new things I'd learnt. As if on cue Tuny came charging down the hill yelling my name.

"LILS? LILS WHERE ARE YOU?" As soon as she saw me with Severus and her face fell. "What on earth are you doing with this slime ball" Severus flinched at the name.

"N-n-nothing Tuny, I just sort of bumped into him that's all"

"This is because of that magic nonsense isn't it? Well I'm telling you it's a load of nonsense, he's a nutter can't you see? Get back in the house now and forget all about it , OK?" Petunia pointed a finger towards our house, and I new I had no choice but to follow.

"See you tomorrow in the park, yeah?" I whispered at Severus and he discreetly nodded back.

Tuny seemed to be ignoring me as a punishment for the rest of the day. I didn't really care because now I knew I was a wizard, and it all made sense! No matter what Tuny says, Severus isn't a nutter, or a freak, he's telling the truth and I believe him.

The next day me and Severus met up in the park and sat on the swings, mindlessly swinging back and forth.

"So, you know Hogwarts? Do we have special magic lessons? Or do we have normal lessons as well?" I asked.

"We don't get taught any of that weird stuff you learn at school. There are special lessons to teach us all about magic. Like Care of magical creatures where we learn to deal with weird animals, or charms where we learn about levitation and stuff like that"

"Awesome! And when is home time? My school starts at nine, and ends at three."

"You stay there all year (except holidays if you want to come home) with the rest of your houses. There are four houses, Gryfindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw,"

"Oh, well at least I can see Tuny on holidays! So which is the best house?"

"Slytherin by far! My whole family are Slytherins,"

"Oh I do hope we're both in Slytherin!" I got worried just in case I was on my own, I would probably never make any friends because I'm normally a boffin and a goody goody two shoes. But what if I was rubbish at wizard school? What if I was really useless?

"Severus?"

"Hm?"

"What will happen if I'm totally rubbish at lessons?"

"Oh you could never be rubbish, you're the smartest person I know!" I blushed a scarlet red.

"But that's in 'Muggle' school, I might be terrible at all of these subjects!"

"I bet you wont, and if you are it doesn't matter, you'll always get better," This slightly calmed my nerves.

At that moment I swung to high and fell right off, horribly grazing my knee, but when I looked down it was gone!

"Told you! You're a natural, I bet you'll be second best in the year, after me of course!" Severus smiled approvingly at me.

I didn't really want to go on the swings so we ran down to the lake and lay on the floor gazing up and the mellow blue sky.

"So, when do I buy all of my wizard things? And what with?"

"You get a letter on your eleventh birthday telling you you're invited to Hogwarts, the you go to Gringotts – the Goblin bank" Goblins! "And get out money to buy them. Of course, as your parents are muggles you can change normal money into knutts, sickles, and galleons. 17 sickles in a galleon, 29 knutts in a sickle, so there are 493 knutts to a galleon."

This was all WAY too confusing for me, I'd never remember".

"You'll get it eventually, you just need time to get used to it, there are loads of muggle borns like you at Hogwarts and they settle in fine," That soothed my nerves.

We stopped talking about wizards and sat laughing around looking at the sky without a care in the world, that was until I realised what time it was.

"Oh no, Tuny will be so mad at me if she catches me with you again Severus! Especially if she knew I was really a wizard! I have to go," Before I charged off I caught a longing look on Severus' face, but I ignored it and ran off.

**Severus' POV**

God I love that girl! It's just something about her that makes me want to scream with joy. I've loved her ever since I layed eyes on her that Sunday morning when I was seven. Now she's finally talking to me, because the greatest thing is, she's a wizard! Of course her self obsessed sister petunia isn't – and she isn't very discreet about it.

I am worried about her though. She is a muggle born, and as my mother keeps pointing out "The Dark Lord will wipe out that filthy scum", but I couldn't tell her.

After Lily ran up and over the hill I sat daydreaming for a bit with the peaceful atmosphere and distant quaking ducks. But it would never last. I solemnly trudged back up to my house where my which mother was brewing potions in the kitchen, and my muggle father was watching TV in our living room. I was never noticed around my house, just swept aside unless I was working.

I trudged into the kitchen but my mom never even looked up from what she was doing – so I just grabbed a pumpkin pasty and slumped off to my room.

In my room I had a juniors portable potions kit with a couple a potions books and that's all I did for most of my time (If I wasn't I was following Lily admiring her). I was lounging about flicking through a beginners potions book correcting a few mistakes when there was a tapping on my window.

**AN:**

**Yes, I tried to put a Severus POV in there, how do you think it went (not that it was very long, I just wanted to introduce Severus properly)? I'm definitely not good at writing long chapters, so I'll try to update every day, but homework is so tough rite now :( **


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